


Between Life and Death

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: Dancing on the Edge of Death [9]
Category: Freelancer, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Eldar, F/M, Gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-14
Updated: 2006-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-08 01:34:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An intangible sense of wrongness leads Kalli and Dolen off into the middle of nowhere in search of answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Life and Death

A few days had passed in the Karzan Galaxy, and between keeping up with her granddaughter and catching up on what had been going on in her absence, Kalli had been keeping fairly busy. There always seemed to be something new suggesting an avenue to investigate, but thankfully none of it had thrown out the huge red flag warning signs that presaged impending doom.

The one odd thing had been Dolen. He returned after his drinking bout and outing in a greatly changed frame of mind, almost as serene and easygoing as he'd been wont to be in the past before the events that had happened. That didn't last terribly long, however, as the same night he began to grow distant and restless, wandering the station and examining everything as though he'd never seen it before.

He managed to weird a few people out by accosting them silently, subjecting them to a brief, eerie study, then moving on with a sharp shake of his head. People had been avoiding the weird pointy-ears as much as they could after a few of those.

Kalli thought that was fairly odd, and wondered if there wasn't still something wrong with him. Maybe it was just boredom, she thought. Or something. Her own rationalizations found herself fairly unconvincing, and she ended up going to talk to him or something.

Kalli tracked Dolen down with a bit of legwork, and found him pacing in the agro-section she'd found herself time and again since returning to the station. The wide berth that others gave him would probably be a little amusing if it wasn't for the fact that he fairly seemed to be _seething_ with restrained energy as he moved restlessly between points.

Kalli wasn't afraid of him, though. She approached him and said, "Hey. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Dolen glared up with a hint of irritability at the interruption, then his expression suddenly drew to a quiet, apologetic smile as he recognized the source. "Of course not," he replied softly, "Your company is ever welcome."

Kalli gave a faint smile, and nodded, and fell in beside him. "How're you doing?" she asks.

Dolen clasped his hands firmly behind his back to keep them still, and forced a return to a more sedate, casual stroll.

"I am well enough," he replied, then glanced aside with a faint grin. "Yet I suspect some doubt of that, whether the madness has returned entire to my mind. Though there is still that within which needs tending, there is..." He frowned and looks into the far distance, as though beyond the walls of the station. "Something is amiss, Kalli May," he continued after a moment. "I have heard it these past few days and searched with only limited success for the source of its tainted music."

"What do you think it could be?" Kalli wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Something that should not," Dolen replied grimly. "Though its nature is hidden by a veil in my mind's eye. Only infrequently have I heard the faint strands of its dread concerto, though there is something in even that which suggests a pattern that I can _almost_ grasp..."

Kalli frowned deeply. "That can't be good," she murmured. "Some residual thing from before?"

Dolen smiled with a glimmer of unreadable emotion. "Fear not in that, what has passed will remain so as I reach a greater peace with myself. No," the smile faded to puzzlement, "This is something which is beyond self and reaches into spaces that are mere shadows, dark threads in the depths of the weave, or even beyond it. I am certain that it is indeed a thing of great evil."

"So what might be done about it then?"

Dolen sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I know not..." then suddenly stiffened and his eyes grew distant. His mind reached out to Kalli's with frantic haste and she could hear the final strains of the song he'd been trying in vain to recognize and pinpoint. It wasn't really 'music', per se, but a rhythm that touched at the soul, and this sample left a creeping unease much like a tune played in a minor key.

As it faded, a quieter and more subtle music could be heard as her mind remained touching his and hearing/feeling what he did from the world around them. It was a haunting, beautiful thing, and strangely familiar as well.

Kalli stood quietly still, mulling over what she had gotten and trying to figure what it might be. The soft melody faded as the mental contact withdrew, but now that she was aware of it Kalli could still feel/hear the faintest strain of it in some distant part of her awareness.

Dolen shuddered and sighed. "That is what I have been seeking, for my Sight tells me that there is far more to it than might be realized and a great potential for darkness to come from it."

"Hmm," Kalli said pensively, staring off across the landscape. "I couldn't say, offhand, of course, but... I don't know."

"I _do_ ," Dolen replied with quiet urgency and frustration, clenching a hand into a fist. "Or I feel that I _should_. There is... something there, I can almost see and know it, but it flees from my eye when I turn upon it."

"Like that song you can recall the first few bars of and can't remember the name?" Kalli mused with a faint smirk. "Hm."

"It is not merely that." Dolen chuckled softly. "There is a pattern there, a reason and purpose behind the workings of this thing that lies just beyond my grasp... though I _know_ it can be taken if I but recognize the labyrinthine path."

"Is there anything I might do?" Kalli asked thoughtfully.

Dolen looked at her speculatively, the wheels of his mind rolling freely along paths that a younger self would have scoffed wholly at. "There may well be," he admitted slowly. "There are ways by which to strengthen the powers of the mind through the aid of others. The Eldar have used such methods since the dawn of the race."

Kalli raised an eyebrow thoughtfully and said, "How?" She vaguely recalled how the Karzans had used numerous linked telepaths in order to hurl around entire spaceships.

"I will show you, if you wish," Dolen replied quietly and took a thoughtful look around.

Solitude was generally preferred, without any chance of interruption or intruding and distracting thought nearby, but the blood found more serenity in natural surroundings than would be drawn away by the few people wandering here and there. He gestured to a shaded spot nearby, still within the space he'd been granted and fairly peaceful.

Kalli nodded and went to take a seat over there. Dolen walked over and settled gracefully beside her on his knees, the position one that was comfortable from long familiarity.

He tilted his head in question. "I find myself shamed that I have not inquired further as to the training you received within distant Iyanden. The Farseer doubtless showed the way of the great part of what the Eldar know, but knowing the full extent of it shall simplify what I need explain."

Kalli nodded slightly and briefly went over just what she had learned there. Dolen listened intently, nodding now and again at one point or another in general approval, then considered the whole tapestry which had been woven.

"Surprising that he had not placed greater emphasis on the ways of focus and ritual," he said calmly. "Yet unsurprising in another fashion as he would not have expected you to have need of it as you were destined to travel beyond the Craftworld with none to augment." He tapped a steady rhythm on his thigh, then nodded slowly. "The practice is simple enough, consisting of laying your mind open on a narrow channel to the will of the one directing the endeavor. It is both a subsuming and exaltation of self, surrendering to the will of another for the purpose and lending your own strength to the greater whole."

Kalli gave a nod, listening to what he said. "I'm willing to try it..." she said.

Dolen smiled quietly. "You have changed greatly since last you experienced the frustrations of meditation, perhaps for reasoning as simple as accepting some part of the song your blood sings or a greater broadening of the soul..." He shook his head in self-remonstration at the moment of examination. "It is to that state you must strive, and I shall do what else is needful to provide the focus."

Kalli nodded, and proceeded to try it as best as she could and do what he said. Kalli sank into a quiet meditative state, the haunting melodies of the world around folding themselves gently around and lending well to her own focus. A sense of 'other' intruded into that pool of serenity, and Dolen gently gathered the ordered threads of her mind and wove them to the purpose he'd told her of, very deliberately and pointedly avoiding delving any further than was needful.

She could feel the power merge and coalesce, his own a controlled maelstrom of energy that coiled tightly and bound to her own before suddenly lancing out into the Void. Without the center of the focus, she recognized only glimpses of what passed in a blur, though some elements were troubling as they broke past boundaries that she had no concept or definition for.

An eternity later, it seemed, a great hole lay before them, an unnatural absence of anything even in the lightless depths of the ends of the galaxy. Something stirred in it, and the eerie music they'd earlier heard passed across her awareness with a soul-chilling intensity. It started to sweep past, then snapped back toward them as though somehow alive and aware of them.

That was apparently enough warning for Dolen as the scene vanished in a blur, shifting crazily from one direction to another to evade the attention of whatever that darkness was. They finally lost any hint of the thing and the focus returned to the more immediate vicinity, then the bond slowly unwound and Dolen retreated silently from her consciousness.

Kalli blinked for a moment as she returns to the present location. She was quiet for a moment before murmuring, "What... was that?"

"A Watcher at the Gate," Dolen replied in a whisper and continued in equally distant fashion. "The thing that should not be has set a ward at the door to a place where none may live, a space denied existence by the gods themselves, a crack in the very frame of what is."

Kalli frowned, wondering just what all that really meant. That didn't sound to be a very good thing, regardless. Dolen looked again into the distance and Kalli could feel a swell of power reaching out from him and toward some remote locale.

"Something must be done," he said quietly and suddenly unfolded to stand, the sudden urgency a palpable thing and Kalli got the feeling that he was restraining the inclination to run off immediately by will alone. "Will you aid in this?" he asked, looking down at her. "Where this has shattered the bounds lies within this universe, though it will require... unusual means to reach before it may be unleashed wholly. Should it not be thwarted, a great evil will visit this Empire soon."

Kalli gave a nod, standing, and said, "I will assist and do whatever is necessary."

Dolen nodded in acceptance, then unleashed a tendril of power in his impatience to bring them immediately to the cockpit of the Darknova. He moved to take a seat and brought up some information from the ship's computer.

Kalli took the pilot's seat promptly and powered up the engines. "Where are we going?"

Dolen tilted his head as though listening to something, then returned to the computer for a minute more before shifting the data over to her display.

"To this area first," he said.

The destination was puzzling since it was on the fringes of the Epsilon system, had been well explored, and had not a single wormhole charted there. To all appearances it was just dead space, well out of any traffic lanes.

Kalli didn't question it, just nodding and heading out of the station to that location. She knew perfectly well how unstable the Epsilon system was and how frequently wormholes tended to come and go there, and figured just because there was nothing there last time anyone checked, didn't mean there's nothing there now. The journey out there was quick enough, and Dolen told Kalli to throttle back as they neared.

"Can you hear it?" he asked quietly.

If she thought back to the recent events and opened herself to the odd frequency that the Eldar take for granted and her own blood listened to, she _could_ hear something out here, very strongly in fact even if it was on a narrow band. A melody cycled endlessly from somewhere nearby...

Kalli frowned for a moment, and listened quietly, pensively. "I... think so..." she murmured.

"Follow it," Dolen said gently. "Listen to the call of the blood, it is that which this sings to and none other might ever find what I sense to be waiting here."

Kalli gave a slight nod and listened closely to what she felt, and tried to follow it as he directed. The signal was one designed to be followed, though it gave not a flicker on any sensor and didn't even tickle any psychic sense. It operated on a much deeper, fundamental level that Kalli's blood locked onto at first clumsily and then with greater surety.

"Stop," Dolen said after a short while longer, and looked out through the viewscreen as he reached out with other senses, "There," he murmured.

A shape coalesced suddenly from the darkness, turning off its incredibly complex stealth systems at Dolen's unspoken command. It was an El'dari ship of a size comparable to a light cruiser, and had a strange construction built into its back.

Kalli looked out the viewscreen quietly, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the ship that had appeared. Dolen studied it with other senses, tying carefully into the unfamiliar network that opened up to his mind and checking carefully for what he required of the installation.

"It is a Webway gate," he murmured. "The El'dari would no more leave without a path to return than the Eldar."

At the explanation, the strangely curved spires on the ship's back made sense, a focus of power to open a gate.

"Hmm," Kalli hmmed, although she was not particularly surprised. Still, she wondered quietly.

Kalli could feel something 'click' just as light flared above the triple spires, a shimmering, swirling gate expanding into a size just large enough to accommodate the Darknova.

"Onward to the first step in our journey," Dolen said softly, "And hope that our kin are aware of the danger or at the least willing to listen before destroying interlopers within their domain."

Kalli nodded quietly and said, "I would hope so..."

She steered the ship in. The transition was as smooth and quick as the gateways that connected the various systems of the Empire. Unseen on the far end of the gate, the cruiser reengaged its cloak and moved to a different location to resume its patient and tireless wait, the computer sentience that controlled it unconcerned with anything beyond the duty it had been assigned.

They arrived in a system that was unfamiliar to Kalli and had no reference on any of the astrographic charts the computer had. It was _not_ uninhabited, though, as sensors quickly sorted out and painted a rather large El'dari fleet stationed near some of the planetary bodies in the system. A 'small' detachment was stationed near where they arrived, and a flight of elegant fighters swept outward to meet them.

"Identify yourself and your intent," came over the comm, "You are within restricted space."

Kalli opened the comm link and replied calmly, "This is Kalli May and Dolen Ista of the Dancers on the Edge of Death."

There was a pause, then the comm returned to life as the fighters swooped in to form around the Darknova. "You are welcome here, by the command of the Seer. An audience has been granted and we will escort you."

Kalli sent an acknowledgment and fell in with them. Their path arced past the outer asteroid belt and three planets, the destination suddenly becoming clear as the fifth planet in the system came into view along with the giant mothership they'd seen before. There was no further challenge as they approached, and the escort sheared away as docking coordinates were transmitted that brought the Darknova into one of the larger ship's landing bays.

Kalli came along quietly and landed the ship where she's directed, then popped open the hatch and climbed out. Dolen climbs out after her, a brow rising as there was no sign of anyone to meet them. Yes, there were El'dari moving sedately about their tasks servicing various craft and the like, but no one paid them any real attention.

"It would seem once again that we are left to our own devices," he said with faint amusement.

Kalli murmured, "Well, they said we had an audience..." She shrugged, and tried to figure out momentarily where they were meant to go precisely.

Dolen drew Kalli's attention to a low, persistent thread of power that flowed outward from some central source. "Far simpler than when last we relied upon my own intuition." He chuckled softly and headed off in the direction that it led.

Kalli gave a nod and headed off in that direction. "Perhaps."

Once it was located, following the thread was simplicity itself and led them through the corridors of the great ship toward its heart. The El'dari they passed were formally polite but didn't interfere or otherwise interact with them as they went about their own business, apparently accepting the 'strangers' in their midst without complaint.

At last they reached the central garden, its design reminding Kalli strongly of the one that Dorivad had used... and a moment's thought and examination divine the reasoning behind it, the abundant life and construction were melded so tightly together that they provided an incredibly intricate and sophisticated living focus.

Elliandra smiled quietly from the central carved stone circle, and motioned them near. "It is well to see you again," she said simply.

Kalli approached and inclined her head politely toward her. "Greetings again," she said.

Elliandra inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Would that it were in fairer times, that we might speak at length of the questions which lay within the deep stillness of your soul, yet there is greater reason for your arrival is there not? Share the weight of your heart, if you will." She gestured politely to a nearby stone bench in silent invitation to be seated.

Kalli took a seat quietly and said, "There are other matters, yes, but I believe Dolen could tell the better of it, as I do not really understand it myself."

Dolen thanked the El'dari woman with a polite half-bow but remained standing that he might pace while he addressed the matter. "There is a darkness descending, that I am certain you are already aware," he turned a questioning glance to Elliandra, then continued at her assenting nod, "Yet I suspect your sight has been as baffled by the nature of it as my own... until recent revelations opened themselves with Kalli May's aid."

That clearly sparked the woman's interest on a number of levels, but she merely remained quietly attentive.

Dolen went on, "I cannot explain the whole nature of it, as there is still that which is unclear and unknowable in the twisting skeins of possibility, yet it is clear that this darkness _must_ be vanquished else a horror to rival the destruction promised by the Nameless Ones be unleased."

Kalli listened quietly to his words, frowning pensively. Was it really that bad, she wondered? The Nameless Ones _had_ destroyed all intelligent life in the galaxy until that had been averted via time travel, after all... But she did not know Dolen to exaggerate.

Elliandra's expression grew increasingly grave as she listened, the darker hints she'd caught the faintest glimpses of gaining substance. "If the nature is unknown," she mused, "then how may it be countered or sealed away?"

She didn't question the certainty that he has regarding it, an oddity indeed considering the ability she had displayed in the past.

"There is a way known to me," Dolen replied, smiling thinly. "Yet must I ask your assistance in attending to it before that which should not be is freed. The forces of the Webway are the same in principle and function whether of the design of Karzan's El'dari, those of the Elkandu, or the Eldar, and may bring us to the distant place where the rent in reality threatens to boil evil forth."

"Kalli May and I may assay this, though the path will be dire indeed..." he flicked an uncertain glance toward Kalli before looking back to Elliandra. "Will you open the Webway to us?"

Kalli looked set, however, determined to see it through whatever the risk and cost if Dolen deemed it necessary.

"That is all you would ask of the El'dari?" Elliandra looked faintly surprised, then smiled. "You are welcome to use the Webway however you may deem fit, as blood and friend to the El'dari there was never even a need to ask."

"There is always a need to be open with those you would consider ally and kin," Dolen replied quietly. "And I thank you for your wisdom in this, I pray only that we may set the matter to rest without further peril to this universe than already exists."

"Then go with my blessing and the prayers of the El'dari," Elliandra replied. "The specific workings of the Webway are yours as a token of our kinship."

Kalli felt a brush of the El'dari's mind and a gift was silently offered, acceptance of which revealed the full extent, purpose, and use of the El'dari Webway. Kalli took it gratefully and inclined her head to her in thanks, and glanced over to Dolen. She had meant what she had said to him before, and at this moment looked fully ready to take on the galaxy for him.

Dolen caught a hint of that and looked at Kalli intently for a moment, then turned sharply back to offer a polite bow to Elliandra. "Thank you."

After, he headed back through the twisting passages of the ship toward the docking bay, turning the dilemma ahead of him this way and that for any other solution and unfortunately finding no other. Kalli went out along with him. She didn't, at this moment, feel that there was anything that need be said, however.

Departure was simply done, and the Darknova only needed to clear the immediate sphere of gravity from the nearby planet to make use of the Webway. Dolen focused on two points as they made their way forth, the furthest one far beyond the reach of anything the inhabitants of this galaxy would ever likely explore before the end of time.

The construction was indeed quite similar, and using the El'dari Webway proved no more difficult than accessing the Nexus had been. One moment they had a picturesque view of the mothership and its sleek companion craft floating against the blue, white, and green marble of a world, and the next... Not a single star was visible, the darkness of space absolute.

Kalli didn't question the destination, but looked around curiously, glancing reflexively at the sensors in something of puzzlement. "Where are we?"

Dolen brought a map of the known galaxy up on the display, then zoomed it out until it was no more than a speck in the center. "As an estimation," he said softly, a dot appearing in the upper right corner, "We are currently here, although the scale may not be wholly accurate. The distances involved are... vast."

Kalli blinked for a moment. "Well, this brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'the middle of nowhere'."

"Indeed it does," Dolen chuckled softly, then stiffened as a few bars of the dark melody rose, far stronger than it had been at Epsilon station and almost painful in the chill it speared into their souls.

Kalli swayed in her seat for a moment, and murmured almost inaudibly, "Dear gods."

Dolen swallowed heavily and draws a deep breath, then said quietly, "All shall be well, Kalli May, though this is but the first to assail our souls on the path ahead." He swiveled his chair to look at her seriously. "I can feel where next it leads, and must ask you now to honor the word of your oath... if not necessarily the heart of it."

Kalli gave a nod and steeled herself against it, and said, "Let's go."

Closing his eyes, Dolen quoted quietly from memory, "Through darkness and light, through war and peace, through life and death..." His eyes flickered open and turned to her. "Where we must go, you must trust me to the full of that oath, Kalli May, else both will surely be lost and none else to stand against what waits beyond... We may not pass that gate in this life."

Kalli nodded firmly and said, "I trust you completely."

"Then make yourself comfortable," Dolen replied gently as he stood. "Our souls must separate from their moorings of the flesh and continue beyond the gate, there to do what must be done. I will bind us, that you might draw power from me and sustain yourself... no harm shall I allow, should it be within my power to prevent."

For anyone else, even her own grandchildren, Kalli would think they were surely mad to suggest such a thing, but for Dolen, she just nodded and did as bidden, relaxing calmly.

Dolen smiled quietly and just shook his head once, then went to kneel beside her and rested a hand flat against her chest just below her throat. "I swear it," he murmured softly, even as she felt her heart slowing and a dimming closed in at the fringes of her mind. Distantly she realized there should be _some_ pain associated with death... but a gentle lilting melody seemed to steal the thought away and cradled her.

Darkness descended and all senses were lost for an unguessable time, but snapped suddenly back into awareness. The landscape was strangely leeched of color and the edges seemed oddly blurred... and she recognized the same sort of vision that she'd seen through Dolen mind back on Lezaria or through the senses of the Wraithguards.

Kalli had never been particularly afraid of death, even if Death Dancers somewhat incongruously never really spent a lot of time thinking about it. She glanced about with a faint curiosity and waits patiently.

Looking around, Kalli saw Dolen 'standing' nearby and a thin cord that led between them. Neither of them appeared any more substantial than the land they were in, standing at the bottom of a craggy ravine with a pale and colorless sun shining down in a leaden gray sky. The terrain was equally gray and lifeless, the only thing of even remote interest lay behind them... a pylon made of sharp spikes and blades.

Its construction was unlike anything she'd seen, and it was further disturbing that as it slowly spun she could hear a low, faint echo of the twisted song that had assailed them before.

"We are Between," Dolen sent to her mind, "Neither Here nor There, a place of all possibilities and none at all."

Kalli gave a faint nod, insomuch as she could really nod without a body, and peered frowning at the pylon. "And what is that?" she asked.

"That is the Watcher," Dolen replied with a nod, the action quite possible as their forms were perfectly delineated and no more or less insubstantial than the land around them. "Though for whom it watches..."

He turned a thoughtful, searching gaze on the world around them, pushing with his senses for some sign of just _what_ was lurking here... She could feel the turmoil of frustration that he _should_ know!

"Watcher.. watches.. watching.. what..." Kalli thought mainly to herself, and looked at him curiously.

Dolen pointed to the thing and said, "When we have done what we must, it is to here that we shall return. You must remember it well for there may you find a path homeward should you walk alone. The Watcher is set to guard the gate from _this_ side, though its eye passes to other planes as well to make certain..." He frowned, then sighed and shook his head. "Come, let us find the answers we seek."

Kalli didn't really intend to come back alone, but did as he said regardless. She went to follow.

Dolen led the way along the bottom of the ravine, away from the Watcher, and remained watchfully alert for signs of the things he knew _could_ be in this unnatural place. As they reached a slope that led up and out, he stopped suddenly and turned to Kalli.

"Careless of me," he said. "There are dangers in this place, without doubt, and while I have extended what power might be turned to your defense there is something more. I am certain you would feel far more comfortable with a weapon to hand, as surely as I."

He smiled faintly and passed a thread of an idea to her, a way by which a soul could manipulate some part of itself to create a most dangerous blade. There was the immediate application for that, of course, but other ideas also presented themselves for its use in more 'mundane' settings.

Kalli replied an acknowledgment and mulled it over thoughtfully. Interesting, she thought. Dolen smiles quietly, then turned to head up the incline. It opened out onto a vast, rolling plain with grasses waving in an unfelt breeze and the same bland gray as the rest of the land.

That was the first sign of 'life' they encountered, but it was surely not the most pressing as a small, silent horde of men mounted on spectral horses sped toward them... Kalli looked to them curiously, wondering just why horses? But regardless she tried to see if they were hostile or not.

The horsemen certainly appeared to be hostile, as they were armored and armed with long, wicked-looking sabers. A blade appeared in Dolen's hand and he started to move quickly out of the way, and touched Kalli's arm to convey a silent urging to do the same... but then stopped dead in his tracks.

"Phantoms," he sent, and indeed the riders thundered past, one of them half-passing _through_ Dolen, and continued on until they vanished.

"Phantoms?" Kalli replied in confusion. "What are those?"

"We are Between," Dolen replied, not really helpfully, but went on to explain, "This place is stuck between the cracks of reality, neither real nor spirit, and as it is an abomination to the natural order so does it attract other aberrations which would else wander aimlessly through the unused corners. Not all such will be harmless to us, if they are..." he paused, trying to put it to words. "If they are sufficiently within the spectrum of our own being, synchronized with what we are, then may they bring us great harm. We must be wary, as I am certain the one at the heart of this web will send shades more able to work against us soon."

"Right, I see," Kalli replied. "So they were just out of phase with us, so to speak, then."

"Precisely," Dolen agreed. "As surely as they would be were they to continue haunting their normal territories."

"Where to now?" she asked, looking about the place thoughtfully.

Dolen looked around with equal thought, though part of him was peeling at the areas of his mind which recognize and know the nature of this plane.

"This way," he said after a moment, with a quiet certainty that proved itself as the land seemed to fast-forward around them and brought a rather bleak and forbidding castle to sight in the distance.

Take the worst elements of fantasy and horror castle-building, sprinkle in a dash of Escher, and you'd still be a bit off in describing the place. It hurt just to look at it. Kalli stared at it for a moment, and was glad that she was not seeing such an apparent violation of the laws of physics in somewhere that the laws of physics actually applied.

The question begged to be asked just why the sudden change in distance didn't bring them closer to the castle, since it looked to still be a goodly distance away. Outside interference definitely reared its head as a possibility, though, as weird, unearthly howls reverberated on the still air... the first sounds they'd heard, and as another barrage sounded it was clear that they were drawing closer.

"I'll guess that's probably not a good thing," Kalli sent to Dolen.

Dolen turned his head slowly to scan the nearby terrain for any signs of the things responsible for the howls.

"I would needfully agree," he sendt, summoning the blade back to hand.

Kalli could feel a strengthening of forces around her, and it was probably just as well since a shadowy mongrel with flaming eyes appeared suddenly at throat level... and bounced away from her with a yelp of pain and smoke rising from its muzzle.

Others appeared suddenly nearby and Dolen whirled to engage the ones who leapt in at him. There are perhaps a dozen total, not including the one who was laying on the ground and pawing at the charred ruin of its muzzle.

Kalli proceeded to take Dolen's hint and saw about doing likewise to engage the obviously-not-friendly ghostly canines.

The soulblades did a great deal of damage to their hateful foes, though the hounds showed no inclination toward retreat even as their numbers were reduced by blade or blinding flash of power from Dolen's direction. There was little doubt of the outcome, the hounds simply didn't have the power and speed to overcome their intended prey, and soon the last of them was dispatched to evaporated as though they were made of smoke.

Kalli made a mental sigh toward Dolen as they finished the creatures off. "Some of what you were talking about, I presume. I'll not assume the next ones will be so easily dealt with, though."

"No, these were meant to test us only," Dolen replied, smiling thinly, "And in hopes of weakening us. The next challenge shall doubtless be much more, as this was completely without effect." There were a few frayed threads in the weave he'd created, but they re-knitted with a flicker of thought. "Needless to say, be on your guard," he said, then continues toward the twisted castle.

Kalli took heed at the warning and keeps her weapon at ready as she continued along with him stoically.

The castle was even more disturbing as they neared it, the looming monstrosity having towers thrusting to the side with stairways curving around them and then descending to ground level straight along the walls. Stranger things were part of its construction, but the mind didn't quite want to _see_ or recognize them. Shadows lurk in impossible places and seemed to move of their own volition...

Wait, they _are_ moving, growing in size, and as Kalli and Dolen looked up they could see a handful of winged demonic figures swooping down at them with razor-sharp fangs and claws bared for blood. They let out an ear-bending wail as they realize they'd been seen, then drop to the attack.

Kalli fell in calmly without fear or hesitation, moving to defend herself and Dolen from the attack.

This battle was a much rougher thing. The demons were relentless in their ferocious attacks and shrugged off anything but the most solid of blows even with the soulblades. One of them snuck past Dolen's guard and laid a smoking claw mark across his back before Kalli plunged her blade into its spine and ripped upward to kill it.

That appeared to be the turning point of the conflict, Dolen rallying with a sudden surge of rage that boiled around him in a maelstrom and lashed out to incinerate one of the remaining creatures. Kalli dispatched the final two with a bit of trickery, causing one to get in the way of the other and leaving both of them open to her expertly placed blade.

Once the final creature was defeated, Kalli looked about to make sure there were no more approaching, then turned to Dolen and tepped, "Are you okay?"

Slow, roiling anger boiled around Dolen in a vortex of energy and he didn't reply immediately as he remained still where he was driven to one knee by the foul blow. The claw mark at his back was a vile-looking wound that looked to be _festering_... at least until the vortex began to diminish, the raw power that had been drawn being forced back within and turned to erasing the deep soulwound.

"I am well," he sent with ragged calm after moments more, the smallest fringe of his anger vanishing at last.

Kalli didn't much like the looks of that either but didn't question him, turning her attention back toward the castle once again warily.

Nothing else seemed immediately threatening, though a million Chaos soldiers could hide in the twisted architecture without a trace so that wasn't much consolation. The high double doors that served as an entry seemed normal enough, at least, other than the grinning demonic visages that leered as decorative handles. Of course, the fact that they swung silently inward to open on the darkness within wasn't reassuring either.

Dolen pushed himself up and drew a number of slow breaths, then turned to look at Kalli. "We are apparently expected and invited," he tepped grimly.

Kalli didn't like the look of that or the idea of it, wondering just what would be expecting or inviting them in while also trying to kill them, and remained on her guard warily as she nodded and went to head in.

Dolen made his way in at Kalli's side, and is surprised as the interior architecture wasn't a reflection of the madness outside. Once they passed the doorway, they emerged in a high hall about fifty feet across, guttering torches in regularly spaced sconces along the walls providing an uncertain play of light and shadow among the solid pillars that ran on either side. Several doors could be seen, one to either side and one directly ahead at the far end of the hall.

He looked around thoughtfully and frowned. "I like this not, less and less in truth."

Kalli wordlessly agreed with his sentiment as they continued in, glancing about the area warily as if expecting something to jump out and try to rip out their throats at any moment. Not that that was an entirely unfounded concern, all things considered.

Though the shifting shadows played tricks with their eyes, there was no sign of anything truly moving in the room as they moved further in. The midway point of the room placed them equi-distant from the doors, and it was at that point that they heard a blood-curling scream echoing through the doorway toward their right, it fell silent with a sudden, ominous finality.

Kalli paused to look off in that direction, and tepped, "What was that?"

"A scream," Dolen replied dryly, then raised a brow. "The question remains whether it is aught which we should investigate or ignore as a potential trap in this hostile environ..."

"That was a rhetorical question," Kalli replied. "Although, to be fair, this entire place may as well be a trap as far as I'm concerned." She sighed, and continued on the way they were going.

Dolen chuckled quietly, but largely agreed with her decision to ignore it. It might be something to provide some clue to this place, but it would also mean _someone_ looking to cause havoc. The door straight across from the entryway was dark when they opened it, but brightened again as soon as they entered.

Unfortunately what it revealed was a twisted mirror of the design of the castle outside. Stairs proceeded at all angles and stretched far above them, with doors scattered here and there at impossible places. The door behind them, however, had vanished...

Kalli thought in grim humor that she was somehow not surprised at that. "Naturally," she tepped dryly. "Where to now?"

"I tire of this game, and begin to suspect the players," Dolen replied with a dangerous glimmer in his eyes. He turned a hand palm-upward and a flame sprung into existence within it. "Enough of illusion and trickery, no more shall I play the part that some would deem right, I refuse to bow to those rules or any other!"

The flame danced away, growing as it gained distance and rose above them. Kalli stared wide-eyed, fairly impressed and wondering just what was going to happen...

The dancing flame gained the stature of a small sun in the sky above them, and then suddenly the very fabric of the area seemed to warp and burn away. There was a feeling of monolithic forces surging in waves around them, then retreating before the boiling fury to leave... a charred room with nine children of various descriptions looking at them through wide eyes.

Kalli stared for a moment. Whatever she had been expecting, this wasn't exactly it. She was puzzled, and sent a feeling of general puzzlement to Dolen as well.

Dolen looked at the 'children' with narrowed eyes, and Kalli could feel a surge of anger boiling upward again, but he stilled it as he recognized her confusion. "All is certainly not as it seems here, Kalli May," he tepped gently, "Though you might recognize these ones if you thought of it. Nameless and voracious, caring not at all for others... and torn, shattered, so that only Between might they again exist."

"...What?" Kalli replied in puzzlement, slowly piecing two and two together as she counted them again. "You don't mean..."

The 'children' look from one to another among themselves, clearly having heard the exchange, and one of them stepped forward. "Please, take us back with you. We don't belong here," the little girl asked pitifully.

"No, you _don't_ belong here, Idile," Dolen replied coldly. "Your time is past, done, your weave shattered and sundered from the pattern of the universe. It was wrong of you to seek a return, even here as shades will your actions threaten all that which you claim to want to return to!"

Kalli just stared. They looked so helpless here, but she could not help but remind herself of what they truly were.

"Please," the little girl Idile whimpers, turning liquid eyes to Kalli. "I know we were bad, but we promise to be good. Don't leave us here. It's so cold..."

"Then accept your fate and stop clinging to some faint shadow of existence," Kalli replied firmly, not willing to give them an inch.

A rough-looking little boy with scars on his knuckles sneered. "You're a fine one to fucking talk, bitch, you're dead too with only that freak as a lifeline. How fucking stupid did _you_ have to be? Hey, at least we were imprisoned, and didn't exactly step on our dicks to get here."

Kalli didn't need to think who that one might be, and dismissed his words without a consideration. She just shook her head, and glanced at Dolen.

Another little girl stepped forward and smiled a bit timidly. "Don't listen to Greve. He's always been a big dope thinking with his fists. But... Is it really right to leave us here, while my brother revels in his pleasures using the power he stole from us? Would a return to the way things were really be that bad?"

"Sheniro," Dolen replied with a thin smile, and replied with certainty. "You misrepresent his intentions for that universe, surely showing a greater interest in the life and wellbeing of the people." He frowned and shook his head sharply, not sure just where that surety had come from, but knowing all the same that it was true. "What...?"

Kalli quirked an eyebrow, vaguely wondering just where Dolen had acquired any love for Sheniro.

Dolen turned away from the sight of the child godling shadows, rubbing at his temple, and tepped, "It is your home, Kalli May, and would ask for your opinion in this. There is a way by which the weave might be redone, but would it be in the interests of the Karzan? I think not, knowing what I do of Sheniro, but..."

"I'd generally think not, for all the years of abuse and destruction... I'd think it's time for someone else to have their chance. They had theirs, and look what came of it..."

Dolen smiled at her with quiet gratitude, then turned back to face the others of the Nameless. "Your trickery has failed, the illusion cleared from our eyes before your purpose might unfold and bring chaos to that universe. It is time for the shadows of the past to return to the darkness. Begone."

Several small faces looked to be rebellious against the idea, but there was a heavy weight that seemed to gather in the air that made them look around nervously.

Idile looked a bit sad as she said at last, "We're sorry. We'll obey and go now."

Silently, they vanished from sight one by one, the final of them lifting a chubby hand to give them the finger.

Kalli gave a faint smirk at that as he vanished. They hadn't been all bad, she thought, but for all they had done... She hoped that the next to rise to take their places would be less prone to the entire destroy-the-universe thing. Evil gods that wanted to conquer and enslave the universe could be dealt with, at least. But ones who aimed to destroy it...

Dolen looked at the space where the shades had been, brow furrowed in thought, then shook his head slowly and turned to Kalli with a faint smile. "Are you ready to return?"

Kalli gave a nod and replied an acknowledgment in the affirmative. "Lead the way."

"There is no reason to remain within this construct," Dolen replied and held a hand palm-upward in invitation. "It will return to nothingness when the last shadow is past from its soil. The path lies neither behind nor before us... but within."

Kalli reached out to take his hand and nodded quietly to his words. The world around seemed to drain of even the pale colors it, and the darkness enfolded Kalli for another timeless moment. A thundering sound dawned in her perception and a howling wind, but as awareness sharpened those sounds dimmed to the background noises of breath and subtler throb of heartbeat. Her eyes opened to find Dolen still kneeling before her and only now drawing a sharp, shuddering breath. The Darknova never looked so good.

Kalli took a deep breath as if to reassure herself that she was, in fact, alive, although at least that was one thing she had not particularly had any real fear about. She'd trusted Dolen to bring her back without question. She looked over toward him quietly.

Pale green eyes flickered open and turned immediately to make certain that all was indeed as it should be. Dolen smiled faintly in satisfaction as he found Kalli already awake.

"It would seem all is indeed well, and without unleashing the hounds of hell to savage the universe." That was less important to him just at this moment, but it was a civil conversational gambit.

Kalli smiled at him softly. That was all a bit closer to the edge than she was used to dealing with when dancing on the edge of death, but true to form she wasn't bothered by that at all.

"Everything's better now?" Kalli asked.

Dolen's eyes went unfocused and his head tilted, listening to something within or elsewhere it was impossible to say, then he returned and nodded once, slowly. "All is indeed as it should be. There is nothing remaining which sounds so discordant a note as had been heard. I doubt that the shades of the past shall rise again soon, though I shall not presume they might not seek again should opportunity present itself."

Kalli nodded and said, "That's good. I didn't much fancy seeing their likes again. Shall we head back now, then?"

"At your whim and command, Kalli May," Dolen replied lightly, then rose and went to return to the seat he'd vacated before the strange sideline. "Where shall we return within the Empire? The El'dari Webway network is placed within each system therein. The energy expenditure will be minimal."

"Epsilon will do, I believe," Kalli replied, hands moving instinctively to the controls. She'd be glad to be out of here, as aside from old dead gods, it was fairly dull out in the middle of nowhere.

"So shall it be," Dolen replied quietly.

His eyes closed as he quested outward across the vastness of space to find the Webway portal which had sent them here. Moments later, the familiar stars of the Epsilon system reemerged in the viewscreen, and the El'dari cruiser once again moved from its station to find another place of rest.

Kalli was grateful at seeing the comforting stars once again, and brought the ship in back toward the station once again. Not really much need of a co-pilot or gunner on approach to a familiar station, so Dolen just relaxed and watched the approach absently. There were a great many things on his mind, of late, and he was not sure if the snarl will ever be unraveled. He sighed quietly as they land and stood.

"Is there aught which you require of me, Kalli May, or shall I retire for now?"

"As you like," she said, standing and stretching. She considered food, or actual sleep.

Dolen smiled wryly, stopping at the cockpit entry and propping against it with a shoulder. "I shall try to avoid dragging you into situations as that, should it prove possible. Well do I remember my own disinclination to become so drawn."

Kalli shook her head slightly. "I do not mind. I'm glad to be of whatever assistance I may whenever possible."

The smile softened a bit and Dolen just looked at Kalli for a moment, then pushed briskly away from the frame. "More than you might realize," he said quietly, then nodded to her. "I shall leave you to your pursuits, then, and we may continue on at your pleasure." 

Kalli inclined her head to him and climbed out of the ship and headed for a lift to go sleep. Whenever she had last actually slept was...


End file.
